32 Contemplative emotions

When it comes to pain, there wouldn't be a sentence which could explain William's discomfort. Any explanation would be an under-statement!

It wasn't peachy, but thankfully the boy bought himself a break from all the prior havoc! That transparent light he had spread out, helped attain a moment of peace.

The key achievement of this spell, was how it eventually dealt with that nasty arrow, the same one which had sunk deep within the boy's shoulder!

However, since it was a true challenge to heal a wound of this degree, it took quite some endurance to push through.

There were some spooky side-effects as well. For example, while the strength of this spell dealt with that stick, numerous pops sounded out!

"This is weird... are my bones cracking up?" William hurriedly asked.

The system did not answer such a question. In response, he couldn't stop this spell as the consequences sounded dire!

A fearful reaction was the best option perhaps, as the rest of this health-regeneration procedure proved scarily complex.

In a literal sense, that stick slowly pulled itself out of the good man's skin, this sight alone could traumatize the lesser minded. But in this case, it just seemed stupid to put this weird magic to a pause.

Yet although this decision evaded critical damage, it still brought minor complications. While the stick slid out for example, streams of blood and white-puss erupted in response!

"Where did I get this much blood? Probably lost half my body-weight overnight, this is nuts!" He complained.

The snakezoid's waist had taken a couple of sharp blows earlier on, thanks to that prior cyclone to be exact. Those were the cuts which he referred to now, they still burned to this hour!

William's coat was drenched with blood, and its horrid stench was hard to ignore! But although this odor was a headache, pain itself inevitably caught more attention.

His skin hurt beyond preparation, and drained a lot of his strength just to endure this dilemma! It wasn't easy to deal with a stabbed and infected shoulder after all.

Eventually, that same arrow head had slipped just half-way out of his shoulder. This sight was uncomfortable, and the constant popping-sound didn't make it easier either.

As fear grew worse, he demanded. "How long will this take, answer me system!"

[There's a piece of wood in your shoulder, and it's wide like a finger. Be patient, even magic can't do the instant miracles you're looking for.] The lady in his head answered, with a clear hint of irritation.

Just a moment later, William saw how that whole stick somehow broke into three pieces! The whole arrow-head fell out of his arm, and it was wholly coated with blood!

"Finally!" He celebrated.

Along with that, the boy had managed to notice a couple of hints as well. This damned stick had apparently been thinned down, just because it was constantly pressured by that arcana spell.

"That's where all the popping came from... the stick was breaking!" He sighed upon realization.

However, while William peeked at his wound, he slowly loosened that left, tightened fist. This same palm had started the spell to begin with. 

The magic itself had thankfully been easy to trigger, but now it was time to slow down a little bit. As although his wound still puked a good amount of blood, the blemish slowly sealed itself.

Likewise, there was no reason to rush this health-spell any longer. The loss of blood felt like a relief as well, as his whole shoulder slowly became more mobile in exchange.

"Ah, that feels better. But this stench... pretty sure it's gonna give me a nosebleed." The young one joked.

All those layers of blood where the source of this nasal torture. Although a good portion of such liquids had dried off already, its aftermath was still present.

"I need new clothes... should probably skin a bear or something. But those stink too, so I dunno." He contemplated.

Moments later, the boy reasonably agreed that this horrid stench should be ignored, at least for now. In comparison to all the problems he faced, this odor was nothing!

Likewise, the boy focused on the prime issue instead. He allowed this ray of magic to work for a couple minutes more, until every inch of his skin embraced a clean texture.

Although this spell worked well, the amount of debris which latched off his skin was troublesome. It got stuck in the inner layers of his suit, and forced the boy to itch like an ape!

But even though this suit tormented the snakezoid, his overall health was decent. At least enough to regain a good base of self-awareness, which felt like a gift on its own!

The shoulder infection was gone as well, it no longer burdened his soul. So now he could focus on other matters, which possibly weighed more in value.

"Gotta find Olivia," That was William's first thought.

As he loosened that left fist just to put the spell to an end, raw fear struck his conscious! Worse yet, the feelings which came with all this fear, were even harder to process.

With a hint of contemplation, he said. "Maybe she's dead...? Dunno if I should wish to find her body."

Yet before tremendous worry could've over-encumbered the boy, he got distracted by what seemed like a true eye-pinch! Earlier on William had been tired enough to miss this detail, but now it baffled him.

"Well shit, this made my job a lot easier." He celebrated.

The absurd scene which entrapped the young man's vision, was a sharp white light that pierced the darkened air. Its characteristics were unmistakable!

This same light was just a foot wide, which seemed very thin once it was viewed from a distance. Yet although it was slim, this odd thing still stretched at least a few hundred meters long!

Size aside, this unique glow helped clear out a few other conclusions. In other words, it loosened one problem's pressure.

"Those owls actually got Hakoon's pyramid! Eh, jokes on them, that's what I wanted anyway." William joyfully muttered.

Apart from happiness, this scene had embraced greed. The artifact in question got activated, which meant that a good portion of the second mountain was much calmer now.

All and all, this enforced peace aided the boy's goal. In exchange, he had space to figure out other problems.

Seemingly one headache was replaced by another. He slowly acknowledged just how far up, that cyclone had tossed the group. 

These snakezoids were probably lost in the third and highest mountain! This light source had to be at least a few hundred meters underneath him, so the prior possibility couldn't be ignored.

With such a realization, other concerns were quick to grow. Since the pyramid was hundreds of meters away, it necessarily meant that the rest of the team had to handle a tremendous crash.

Such a thought embraced grief, so he said. "Olivia's probably dead, unless snakes here know how to fly... wait a minute."

In the midst of this concern, the good man figured out a plausible plan. It was simple but yet already had signs of efficiency.

"Hmm maybe, let me just..." Another mumble slipped out.

In response to his idea, the good man slowly climbed up a tree. It took quite a bit of time to reach the top of this twenty-meter tall figure, but thankfully it paid off.

In response he slightly shouted, "Haha, I was right!"

What pleased his eye was one simple fact. In the far distance, it was noticeable that this sharp light had an end.

It was positioned narrowly, so its end met with some tough surface. The naked eye couldn't figure out what blocked this glorious light's path, but that didn't matter.

This white transparent light had an end, and that same end could be followed. If the rest of the group chased the same path, then a reunion was plausible.

Its success factors were already visible, but a sizable effort was required. This sharp illumination's end was at least a kilometer away, in a dense forrest such a distance was clear torture.

Yet William still decided, "Eh, I'll do it for Olivia. She wanted to heal my disease, so yeah I need her."